You are not to blame for every bad thing that happens around you.

There’s a concept called a “locus of control”. It’s a fancy way of saying “how responsible people feel for events around them”. There’s a lot of talk about how believing that one has no control is a problem, but there’s not as much talk about the opposite end of the spectrum. Some people take too much responsibility for the world around them.

No one is responsible for everything. If someone next to you decides to stab you, then you are not responsible for their decision. You did not force them to stab you. Your outfit didn’t magically compel them to think, “I want to stab them”. They made their choice independently from you.

Everyone makes choices, and you don’t control those choices either. You might influence those choices sometimes. That doesn’t change who’s responsible for choosing. All the influence in the world will not force someone to act in a way they didn’t choose. Even in a high-stakes hostage situation where someone is physically threatened to make a specific choice, that person can still choose otherwise. (This doesn’t absolve the threat-giver of responsibility, though- they did threaten the person, and they’re responsible for their choices as well.)

Untimately, the only choices you’re responsible for are yours. Everyone else’s choices are not under your control, and you are not to blame for what they decide to do of their own free will.


See also: Freedom